Mobile Education Market $70 Billion by 2020: GSMA

The GSMA has announced that mobile has the potential to dramatically change the way education is delivered, enhancing learning for over a billion people around the world.

‘Transforming learning through mEducation’, a new report from the GSMA and McKinsey & Company, reveals how a number of early trials in mEducation across diverse geographies and education segments have improved education outcomes, indicating potential for mEducation in the future of learning worldwide. It was announced today, April 2.

“mEducation is poised to lead to a major transformation of the education landscape,” said Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere, head of Connected Living at the GSMA.

GSMA says there are still a number of barriers to overcome in both developed and developing territories. These include the perceived extra burden for IT departments in facilitating teaching through tech-based products; cultural resistance from some teachers who are reluctant to integrate new teaching methods into their classrooms; and some negative perceptions that still exist around the introduction of smartphones and tablets to the classroom.

According to GSMA report, the mEducation market could generate a global revenue opportunity for mobile operators worth US$70 billion by 2020. mEducation products and services will represent a US$38 billion market, nearly 90 per cent of which will be generated through content such as educational e-books, software including educational apps and platforms such as learning management systems and mobile learning environments. The opportunity for mEducation devices, such as smartphones and tablets, will be worth a further US$32 billion by 2020.

The core opportunity for the mEducation market is the K-12 segment of kindergarten to grade 12 equivalent students, aged between six and 18, which receives around 55 per cent of global expenditure on education. Another key segment is higher education, which commands around 30 per cent of global education expenditure.

Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA is a mobile industry association of about 800 of the world’s mobile operators.